Hillary Clinton: Best Secretary of State Since Baker?

Ok, maybe the title is a little bit of hyperbole 7 months into the new administration, but she has thus far shown that maybe we were wrong to write off "smart power." She seems to have mastered the balance, both rhetorically and in action, between tough talk and diplomacy. This clip is the highlight:



Too bad she wasn't running foreign policy instead of health care during her husband's administration.

For more great highlights from her interview, including comments on North Korea, Russia, and her elbow, check http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25426.html

Dems Want To Pull Military Information Funding

The Defense Department wants nearly $1 billion next year for its greatly-expanded Information Operations programs. But lawmakers are putting on the brakes, saying the end product is often ineffective “propaganda” and a costly distraction from the military’s core mission.

The House Appropriations Committee fired the first shot Tuesday, ordering deep cuts from the 2010 budget and the termination of many IO activities now underway. Altogether the Pentagon’s $998 million request would be cut in half, and the remaining funds frozen until the Defense Department submits a fuller accounting of its plans and where the money has been going since 2005.

Iran has "propaganda" in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Lebanon. Syria has "propaganda" in Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon. Russia has "propaganda" in Eastern Europe. China has growing "propaganda" all over the world. Meanwhile, the Pentagon tries to counter it with a program to show people that we are not the charicatures they think we are, and the Democrats want us to fight a war one-handed.

And people wonder why Hobbes prefered the sole sovereign.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25327.html#ixzz0M76hV9UR